Visa stablecoin settlement volume has passed a $25 billion annualized run rate, roughly ten times its level a year earlier. CEO Ryan McInerney gave the figure to analysts on the company’s fiscal fourth-quarter earnings call on Tuesday, October 27. The number puts a direct question in front of stablecoin issuers. Visa now settles in five tokens and says it favors none of them, so who actually captures that growing flow?
Why it matters
Card settlement is the plumbing between banks, and Visa now runs part of it across 10 blockchains. Which stablecoins get used there could shape issuer market share. That matters more because Tether’s USDT, the largest stablecoin, isn’t on Visa’s supported list. Visa is also a part-owner of a competing token, Open USD.
What we know about Visa stablecoin settlement
Visa disclosed the figure with its fiscal fourth-quarter and full-year results on October 27, according to Blockchain Reporter. McInerney put it plainly on the call: “In stablecoin settlement, our run rate has surpassed $25 billion in annualized volume, up 10x year-over-year.” The same results showed quarterly net revenue of $12.1 billion, up 13%, and record full-year net revenue of $45.9 billion, up 15%.
Settlement is the step where card issuers and acquirers pay each other what they owe. It’s back-office work rather than consumer spending.
Which tokens Visa stablecoin settlement supports
Visa settles in five stablecoins:
- Circle’s USD Coin (USDC)
- Global Dollar (USDG)
- Circle’s euro-backed Euro Coin (EURC)
- PayPal USD (PYUSD)
- SBC, a dollar stablecoin issued by Brale
Bitbase noted the tokens are supported across 10 blockchains and all five international regions. PANews reported that the blockchain count is more than double the number a year ago.
Asked how Visa would treat different tokens, McInerney said: “we are stablecoin agnostic. We are blockchain agnostic.”
Card programs and the stablecoin platform
Beyond settlement, Visa counts more than 225 stablecoin-linked card programs, up over 70% in a year. PANews reported that transaction volume on those programs grew more than 150%. That volume covers roughly 5 million cards across more than 50 countries. The Visa Stablecoin Platform, a service for launching stablecoin-based products, is available in six markets: the U.S., Mexico, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Switzerland and the U.K. More than 300 partners are in the pipeline.
Business use is part of the story. On October 1, Visa said nearly 17% of stablecoin-linked card volume is occurring across business and commercial card programs.
What is still unclear
A run rate, not a total
The $25 billion is an extrapolation. Crypto.news pointed out that it is calculated from the current pace of activity. It is not the total Visa processed during fiscal 2026. None of the cited reports break the figure down by token or chain, so it’s not clear how much USDC carries compared with PYUSD or the others.
BeInCrypto added that the call didn’t tie the stablecoin figure to Visa’s fiscal 2027 outlook of low double-digit revenue growth. The reports therefore don’t show how much this business contributes to Visa’s revenue.
Neutrality alongside Open USD
The other open question is how “agnostic” sits next to Visa’s own stake in a rival token. Forbes reported that Visa and Mastercard became part-owners of the Open USD (OUSD) stablecoin on September 30, the day it went live. OUSD had more than $800 million in circulation as of October 15. According to BeInCrypto, McInerney said OUSD will be built into other Visa products, including Visa Direct. OUSD isn’t among the five settlement tokens today, and the sources don’t say whether that will change.
Market backdrop
Most major crypto assets were trading lower over the 24 hours to 07:13 UTC on October 29, with BNB a modest exception at +0.92%. The Crypto Fear and Greed Index read 51, or “Neutral,” that day. None of the sources link those moves to Visa’s disclosure.
| Asset | Price (USD) | 24h change | 7d change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin (BTC) | $79,817 | -1.25% | -3.48% |
| Ethereum (ETH) | $2,307.20 | -1.87% | -5.17% |
| Solana (SOL) | $99.78 | -2.09% | -4.74% |
| XRP | $1.29 | -2.57% | -3.77% |
Data from CoinGecko as of 07:13 UTC, October 29, 2026.
For context, the whole stablecoin market held $308.85 billion in supply across 174 tokens as of October 5, according to the Forbes figures. USDT had 59.6% of that and USDC 24.1%. Because USDT isn’t among Visa’s settlement tokens, this channel is open to USDC and the four other supported stablecoins.
BeInCrypto’s read is that token competition may play out on Visa’s network rather than around it. The outlet noted that this view would weaken if banks and issuers start settling directly onchain without a card network in the middle.
What it means for investors
The headline shows real growth in Visa stablecoin settlement, but it isn’t a signal about any token’s price. Stablecoins are designed to track a fixed value. In our reading, more settlement use is likely to matter mainly to issuers and to the blockchains that carry the transfers. USDC’s role looks the most concrete. On October 15, Visa said USDC prefunding for Visa Direct cross-border payouts had moved from pilot to commercial deployment, Altcoin Buzz reported.
The risks don’t disappear. Stablecoins can lose their peg, issuers carry reserve and operational risk, and smart contracts and bridges can fail. Regulation is still developing and differs by country. A run rate can also fall as easily as it rose. This is information, not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any asset.
Bottom line
Visa’s stablecoin settlement has reached a $25 billion annualized run rate, spread across five tokens and 10 chains. The next things to watch:
- Any breakdown of the figure by token
- Whether OUSD joins the settlement list
- Whether banks keep using Visa as the gateway or start settling onchain on their own
Sources
- Visa's Stablecoin Volume Grew 10x in a Year: Which Stablecoins Benefit? (BeInCrypto)
- Visa Stablecoin Settlement Tops $25B Run Rate (blockchainreporter.net)
- Visa sees 10x stablecoin settlement growth, adds over 225 card programs (crypto.news)
- Visa Sees 10x Stablecoin Settlement Growth, Expands to Over 225 Card Programs (www.bitbase.com)
- Visa: Stablecoin Settlement Annualized Volume Tops $25 Billion, Up 10x Year-over-Year (panews.io)
- Why Visa And Mastercard Backed A Stablecoin That Could Cut Into Their Own Business (www.forbes.com)
- Visa, Fireblocks and Cross River Take Stablecoin Payment Rails Live (www.altcoinbuzz.io)
- Visa Data Shows Stablecoins Gaining Traction in Business Payments (usa.visa.com)
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile; always do your own research before investing.
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